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May 13, 2024

We have been home a week, but we are not done with this blog yet. Still to come are summaries of the costs, broken down for hotels, food, snacks, ferries, etc., plus a review of what kind of weather we encountered - by country and month, and the custonary summary of what we thought of the trip. You are probably not on the edge of your seat waiting for these blockbuster releases, but there is value in them, especially for cyclists who may follow in our tracks. Tallying the euros, especially, takes time, but within a week - watch for it.

Well then, what have we been doing with our first week back? We did take the bikes out for a spin, but there is little that we find blog worthy in our local area. Well then, we put our souvenirs of Spain, Portugal, and France out on the table. Something of interest there, even just a week after returning, is just how "foreign" the things now seem. For example, when in Spain during Semana Santa, the processions are exciting, but they do not seem out of the ordinary. Now on our kitchen table back home, the souvenir cards given out by the procession brotherhoods, or other religious souvenirs, seem strange indeed:

Here are our "coquilles" from Santiago, plus keychains from (left to right) the mosque-cathedral of Cordoba, Pope Francis at Fatima, and one of the Camino itself.

Here are memories of Angers and Orleans, plus the "Indalo", the symbol of of Almeria, Spain.

Oh, Angers - remember the fortress-chateau on the river, with its 17 circular towers? and Orleans, with its Jeanne d'Arc avenue of flags, leading to the cathedral?

Something we did take time to do in this week back - we booked a return to Paris! August 5 - the memories will come alive again!

One other activity, when we could be tallying those statistics, is casually noticing some of our local birds. We are expecting a new camera to arrive soon, and will be trying to learn its many tricks. But for now, here are just a few local favourites:

24203 American Robin, so different from the European one.

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Suzanne GibsonCan't wait to see what kind of camera you are getting!
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5 months ago

Steve Miller/GrampiesThe Nikon P950. It's big and will eat up the handlebar bag space. Plus with such a camera I will feel pressure to get some good shots. More fun to have a blurry point and shoot to blame?

The P950 though is still a bit of a gimmick - achieving long zoom by having a small sensor = poor in low light and less dynamic range. (I am already lining up my excuses for any poor shots!)
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5 months ago